Haste the Day derive their moniker not from emo stalwarts Saves the Day but instead from nineteenth-century author Horatio Spafford, whose hymn "It Is Well with My Soul" contains the line, "Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight." Given the Indianapolis group's metallic leanings, Jesus is just one of the longhaired dudes from whom Haste the Day draws inspiration. Its songs blend stuttering breakdowns and chilly, angular guitar lines, subtly yet substantially progressing from turbulent origins toward melodic choruses. The group's transition between vocalists Jimmy Ryan (left in December 2005) and Stephen Keech (officially named frontman this February) was just as seamless: Both singers range from a scratchy warlock's wail to a crystalline croon.

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